Eye shade

ABSTRACT

An eye shade particularly adapted for use by athletes during training, as by basket ball players, for practicing the manipulation of a ball or the like without looking at it. The shade is of spongy, yielding material worn under the eyes and capable of absorbing blows without injuring the player, resilient, stiffening material being applied to the forward edge of the shade so that it may be properly retained in its position of use beneath the player&#39;&#39;s eyes.

United States Patent Mullen ..2/l2

15] 3,660,852 Schulenberg [451 May 9, 1972 [54] EYE SHADE 1,585,023 5/1926 Fant ..2/l 2 X 2,721,322 10/1955 Harper.. ..2/12 [721 lnvemofl Leonard Schulenberg, Mound W 2,946,133 7/1960 Williams ..2/15 x Filed: g 7 Primary Examiner-James B0161 Attorney-Scrivener, Parker, Scrivener and Clarke [21] Appl. No.: 62,050

[57] ABSTRACT Related US. Application Data An eye shade particularly adapted for use by athletes during Subsmute for 563,109, y 6, 1966, abantraining, as by basket ball players, for practicing the manipulation ofa ball or the like without looking at it. The shade is of spongy, yielding material worn under the eyes and capable of [52] [1.8. CI ..2/l2 absorbing blows without injuring the player, resilient. stiffen- [51] Int. Cl. ..A61f9/00 ing material being applied to the forward edge of the shade so [58] Field of Search ..2/l5, 12; 35/12 G that it may be properly retained in its position of use beneath the players eyes. [56] References Cum 4 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures UNITED STATES PATENTS PATENTEDMAY 9 I972 3. 660. 852

INVENTOR LEONARD SCHULENBERG BY Mm 9 2M ATTORNEY5 EYE SHADE This application is a substitute for application Ser. No. 563,109, filed July 6, 1966, now abandoned.

This invention relates to eye shades and its object is to provide an improved eyeshade for use below the eyes of a wearer.

Though'it is old to provide under-the-eyeshades to prevent typing trainees and the like from seeing their hands during touch typing exercises, there has not heretofore been an under-the-eye shade which is particularly, though not exclusively, adapted for use in training athletes where their athletic skill is dependent in a large measure on their ability to handle a ball without looking at it and while their attention is focussed on another player or on the goal. For example, basketball players must learn to dribble the ball between the floor and their hands without looking at the ball so that their eyes are free to look for clear spaces through which the ball may be thrown or dribbled toward the goal. Thus a specific object of the invention is to provide an under-the-eye shade which is particularly adapted for use by athletes, and especially basketball players, to train them in the art of handling a ball automatically without looking at it.

.Yet another object of the invention is to provide an eyeshade of the foregoing nature which automatically adapts itself to the shape of the nose bridge of any wearer.

Still another object of the invention is to provide an underthe-eye shade which is sufficientlyrugged for use byathletes yet is sufficiently yielding so as to not injure a wearer should the shade be accidentally hit by a ball or another player.

Other objects and their attendant advantages will become apparent as the following detailed description is read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein: I

FIG. 1 is a top plan view of the eyeshade of the present invention;

' FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the eyeshade of FIG. 1; and I FIG. 3 illustrates the manner of use of the shade of the present invention.

Referring now to the drawings and particularly to FIG. 1 the shade of the present invention comprises a body of yielding spongy material such as sponge rubber or sponge polyurethane having opposed wing parts 12, 14 separated by a recess or notch 16 which is adapted to bridge the nose of a wearer as indicated by the phantom lines 17. The body of spongy material may have a thickness of about one-half inch and the notch 16 is substantially wider than the average nose bridge with the notch side walls faring into the rear edge parts l8of the wings l2, 14 along smooth arcs 20 which are dimensioned to smoothly and comfortably engage the cheek bones below the eyes without gaps between the shade and any part of the nose or checks, thus assuring that the wearer does not subconsciously observe the motion of his hands through any gaps, as might exist if the eyeshade did not snugly engage thev wearers face.

in order that the eyeshade will have a sufficient degree of yielding stiffness for hard use in athletic practice, a substantial portion of the front edge 21 and of the side edges 24 of the body of spongy material are encased in material 26 which may be constructed from a unitary, continuous channel-shaped plastic element whose upper and lower horizontal flanges 27 are centrally cut out to provide a front edge part 28 which extends symmetrically only along a central portion of the front edge of the body and on either side of the nose recess 16 so as to enable the winged parts l2, 14 to resiliently flex rearwardly with respect to each other, the front edge part- 28 of the plastic material serving as a spring to bias the wings to their normal open disposition of FIG. 1. Beyond the front edge part 28 the channel-shaped member extends along the front edge of body 10 to the forward corners where the front edges of the body joins the side edges 24 of the eyeshade and there the upper and lower flanges 27 of the channel-shaped element 26 may be suitably notched or cut to permit the side parts 30 of the plastic element to be bent to the position of FIG. 1 in close adjacency with the side edges 24 of the eyeshade. Where the flanges 32 of the side parts 30 of the channel element overlap the corresponding flanges of the front part of the channel, suitable fastening elements such as the hollow rivets 34 shown may be used to fasten the channel parts and the body of the eyeshade together. in like manner, a pair of rivets 36 may be positioned through the front flanges adjacent the springy front edge part 28 as shown.

in order that the eyeshade may be fastened to the head of the wearer, it is desirably provided with ear engaging means such as the looped flexible bands 38 illustrated which may extend through the center passages of enlarged hollow rivets as clearly shown in FIG. 1.

The manner of use of the present invention should be apparent from FIGS. '1 and 3. As can be seen in FIG. I, when the ear members 38 are placed over the ears the eyeshade flexes about the wearer's nose with such flexing being permitted through the medium of the unchanneled front edge part 28 of the stiffening element 26 as above explained. The eyeshade thus is moved in snugly and comfortably beneath the eyes of the wearer and effectively prevents him from seeing downwardly merely by casting his eyes in that direction as is normally done. The wearer, therefore, is constrained to direct his sight in any direction above the plane defined by the top of the eyeshade to be thereby accustomed to manual manipulation of various objects as, for example, a basketball, without having to have the object under constant observation.

Another use of the eyeshade of the invention is in training golfers to keep their heads down when'hitting the ball. In this use, the golfer must look at the ball but in order to see it he must consciously force his head downwardly in order to see the ball over the eye shade and it is this forced head position that is necessary for a proper golf stroke.

Though the invention has been described as having primary usefulness for the training of athletes, it will be quite apparent that the eyeshade of the invention is by no means limited to such use but can be used with equal efficacy by typing trainees, piano students, and others who must train their hands and fingers to move automatically to various positions without the conscious observation by the eyes of the trainee or student.

It will become apparent to those skilled in the art that the eyeshade of the invention is susceptible of various changes and modifications without, however, departing from the scope and spirit of the appended claims.

What is claimed is: I

1. An under-the-eye shade comprising a body of spongy yielding material having upper and lower faces interconnected by front and rear edges and a pair'of spaced side edges, said rear edge including a central nose-receiving recess dividing said body into two symmetrical wing parts, channel-shaped stiffening material including flanges encompassing a substantial portion of the side and front edges and adjacent portions of the upper and-lower faces of said body except for spaced distances to either side of the center line of said recess, a strip of resilient springy material extending along that portion of the front edge not encompassed by said channel shaped material and connected at its opposite ends to the channel shaped material on either side of the center line of said recess whereby the wing parts may be flexed relative to each other, and means connected to said body for attaching said eyeshade to the head of a wearer.

2. The eyeshade of claim 1 wherein said nose recess is substantially larger than the nose bridge of an average person whereby the wings are adapted to fold rearwardly with respect to each other over the nose bridge, and wherein the side walls of the recess are joined to the rear edge of the body by wall parts contoured to snugly engage the cheeks of a wearer when said wings fold rearwardly over the nose bridge of the wearer.

3. The eye shade of claim 1 including rivet means connecting said channel shaped material to the body of said eyeshade.

4, The eyeshade of claim 1 wherein the means for connecting the eyeshade to the head of a wearer comprise ear engaging elements connected to the wing parts of said shade. 

1. An under-the-eye shade comprising a body of spongy yielding material having upper and lower faces interconnected by front and rear edges and a pair of spaced side edges, said rear edge including a central nose-receiving recess dividing said body into two symmetrical wing parts, channel-shaped stiffening material including flanges encompassing a substantial portion of the side and front edges and adjacent portions of the upper and lower faces of said body except for spaced distances to either side of the center line of said recess, a strip of resilient springy material extending along that portion of the front edge not encompassed by said channel shaped material and connected at its opposite ends to the channel shaped material on either side of the center line of said recess whereby the wing parts may be flexed relative to each other, and means connected to said body for attaching said eyeshade to the head of a wearer.
 2. The eyeshade of claim 1 wherein said nose recess is substantially larger than the nose bridge of an average person whereby the wings are adapted to fold rearwardly with respect to each other over the nose bridge, and wherein the side walls of the recess are joined to the rear edge of the body by wall parts contoured to snugly engage the cheeks of a wearer when said wings fold rearwardly over the nose bridge of the wearer.
 3. The eye shade of claim 1 including rivet means connecting said channel shaped material to the body of said eyeshade.
 4. The eyeshade of claim 1 wherein the means for connecting the eyeshade to the head of a wearer comprise ear engaging elements connected to the wing parts of said shade. 